The Survivors
For the TAS episode with a similar title, please see "The Survivor". '' |image= |series= |production=40273-151 |producer(s)= |story= |script=Michael Wagner |director=Les Landau |imdbref=tt0708823 |guests= |previous_production=Evolution |next_production=Who Watches the Watchers |episode=TNG C03 |airdate=7 October 1989 |previous_release=The Ensigns of Command |next_release=Who Watches the Watchers |story_date(s)=Stardates 43152.4-43135.7 |previous_story=The Ensigns of Command |next_story=Who Watches the Watchers }} =Summary= The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a Federation colony on Delta Rana IV and discovers the planet to be devastated and devoid of life, save for a patch of land containing a house and vegetation. Transporting to the surface, the away team meets the human occupants of the house, Kevin and Rishon Uxbridge. The android Lt. Cdr. Data relates personal information about the couple, impressing them. They witnessed the attack that destroyed the colony, but are unaware that they are the only survivors. Though Kevin would rather have the Enterprise leave them in peace, Rishon allows the team to check the house for any reason why they might have been spared. The team, finding nothing of interest save for a small music box, insists that the Uxbridges return to the Enterprise for safety, but they refuse. Aboard the Enterprise, Counselor Troi hears the music from the music box in her mind on a never-ending loop, which begins to slowly drive her insane. Eventually she is reduced to hysterics, resulting in being medically forced into a coma. An unknown spacecraft appears in orbit and starts to attack the Enterprise, then turns and leaves at high speed. The Enterprise gives chase but is unable to overtake the spaceship; eventually Captain Picard orders the ship to return to the planet. Picard transports to the surface with Worf to visit the Uxbridges; Kevin suggests they were spared because they are pacifists. Upon the away team's return, the spaceship appears in orbit again, but Picard orders the Enterprise to leave the system first, believing that the crew is being toyed with. When they return to the planet, the ship is nowhere in sight, and Picard transports to the surface to plead that the Uxbridges leave with him as well as to tell them about Troi's dementia. After being refused again, Picard tells them the Enterprise will remain to protect them as long as they live, and returns to the ship. The alien spaceship appears again and destroys the Uxbridges' home. Picard orders an attack on the craft; unlike the previous encounter, this time the ship is easily destroyed by the Enterprise's firepower. Playing on a suspicion, Picard has the Enterprise move to a higher orbit and continue scans of the planet; after a short time, the Uxbridges' home reappears. Picard orders the Uxbridges beamed up to the Enterprise and confronts Kevin with the details he has deduced: Kevin and Rishon's house was destroyed in the attack and Rishon was killed, but Kevin, who is not human, has recreated them both. The alien warship is a device of Kevin's to make the Enterprise go away: in the last attack, it seemed to destroy the Uxbridges because then the Enterprise would no longer need to stay and defend them. Kevin admits the truth, and the illusory Rishon disappears. He goes to Troi to remove the torturous music that he had placed in her mind to prevent her from telepathically identifying him. Kevin reveals that he is a Douwd, an immortal energy being with vast powers. While traveling in human form, he met Rishon, fell in love, and settled with her on Rana IV. When the planet was attacked by an aggressive, destructive species called the Husnock, he refused to join the fight in accordance with his species' pacifism, but Rishon did and she died, lost to Kevin forever as bringing the dead back to life is something beyond even his extraordinary abilities. Stricken with grief and wanting revenge, Kevin used his powers to commit genocide on the entire Husnock species--over 50 billion. Horrified by his crime, he chose self-exile to the planet, creating the replicas of Rishon and their house with which to spend the rest of eternity and using a recreation of the Husnock ship as intimidation to keep their privacy. The Enterprise leaves Kevin and his illusion in peace, and Picard confirms he will issue a warning not to visit the planet. =Errors and Explanations= Plot Oversights # Riker using acres instead of hectares, even though the Federation use metric measures. He may be a tradionalist at heart. Nit Central # Will Spencer on Monday, January 29, 2001 - 10:10 am: When the Enterprise and alien ship trade shots, the alien ship is out of focus when seen in close up as it approaches the Enterprise. Why should it be out of focus? It makes it look like a model. This could be a Husnock shield, designed to confuse their opponents. # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Tuesday, July 10, 2001 - 2:03 am: It is said that Delta Rana possessed no interstellar spacecraft. Why not? Since the Federation never encountered the Husnok before then Delta Rana must be on the edge of the Federation. It is unlikely to be near any heavily used spaceship lanes. Did they really think there would be no reason to have such a vessel? Such as evacuating the planet in case of alien attack or their sun about to supernova? The ship that established the colony, and delivered the inhabitants, may have left once the colony was fully established. # The destruction of the planet is called a nuclear holocaust, but the damage seems too intense for that. I believe it is said that the planet is lifeless, except for Kevin and Rishon, but on Earth rats and cockroaches can survive atomic blasts. Why did the Husnok destroy everything totally anyway? Were they afraid that the worms and the grasses might strike back? The Husnock may have used other methods of attack in addition to atomic weapons. # The Away team wears Federation uniforms, but Kevin needs to ask them who they are? dotter31 on Friday, May 04, 2007 - 1:12 pm: Perhaps he was just inquiring about what part of the Federation or Starfleet they were from, such as what ship or division. Or he may have just been playing along to maintain the illusion that he didn't know anything about what had occured. steve McKinnon (Steve) on Thursday, July 14, 2011 - 9:45 am: I'm wondering if Rana hadn't been visited by Starfleet in a long time, or at least, Kevin, himself, hadn't seen the most recent Starfleet uniforms. It's possible, since as recent as Wesley's father being alve to record a message, Starfleet wore the old-style Trek movie uniforms, which are quite different from TNG. # Troi says she was thinking of Rishon and Kevin when she was affected by the music, but she was in her room at the time. How did Troi know there were even two survivors, let alone their names? ''Ryan on Tuesday, August 14, 2001 - 12:54 pm:''Kmorgan, Troi never did go down to the planet, but she was present at the staff meeting after the away team's return. I'm not positive, but I think Kevin & Rashon's names came up in that meeting. Certainly the fact that there were only 2 survivors was brought up. Even though Troi was being distracted by the music at the time, she should have been subjected to those facts at the meeting. # Shouldn't Kevin have made the destruction of the Husnok ship tougher, or did Kevin think Picard was gullible enough to swallow it? (It could be argued that Kevin's guilt affected his judgment in chasing away the Enterprise. Perhaps subconsciously he wanted them to know his 'crime.') He isn't thinking logically, due to he grief over the death of his wife. # Why did Kevin restore life as a square of land? Presumably he could have created any shape that he wanted, so is he just a stickler for property lines? I really doubt if his neighbors would complain, if he created more than just his own property. Perhaps he didn't get on with his neighbours? # Instead of trying to trick the Husnok why didn't Kevin just use his powers to protect the colony? He could have made it look like the Husnok had destroyed the colony, then when the Husnok had left, he could have dropped the illusion. Too risky - when the Husnok realised they had been tricked, they would have returned and blasted the planet until it broke up. # J.J. on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 10:42 am: If Kevin Uxbridge had such amazing Q like powers that with just one thought he could destroy all Husnak everywhere, why is it that he couldn't use just one thought to bring them all back? If that were possible, he would have revived Rishon. # Ryan on Tuesday, August 14, 2001 - 12:54 pm: If Uxbridge has this amazing power, how hard would it be to keep the Hunsock away? You don't have to kill them, but how about shorting out all their computer systems, and then knocking the ship back to the Hunsock world. You do that 3 or 4 times, and the Hunsock would get the message, and none would be killed! There are many other ways to go about getting the HUnsock to leave without killing them. See my comment about faking the colony's destruction. # Ryan on Tuesday, August 14, 2001 - 8:00 pm: In a tribute to the old days of Classic Trek and redshirts getting mowed down, the creators strike down a red shirt during the second Hunsock attack. Problem is, this guy is standing in the middle of nowhere on the bridge! Apparently, he walked out of the turbolift and straight to the wooden bridge rail. I don't know why during red alert anyone would be there. And surprising enough, even though it doesn't look like there are any control panels there, sparks suddenly shoot out from nowhere and sizzle the poor redshirt. As it was with the original Trek, nobody cares that poor Mr. Redshirt was sizzled. Maybe they figured it was poetic justice for him standing around doing nothing during a crisis. Joel Croteau (Jcroteau) on Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 12:50 am: Riker does actually call medical assistance to the bridge after the unseen panel blows up on that guy. # Andre Reichenbacher (Amr) on Monday, September 19, 2011 - 2:51 am: Where are all the other Douwds? They are either extinct or in hiding. Internet Movie Database Plot holes # If Kevin Uxbridge is so powerful that he can kill an entire race with a single thought, he certainly could have come up with a simple, nonviolent plan to stop the Husnock from attacking his planet. For example, he could have rendered the attackers temporarily unconscious and then blasted their ship to a remote, uninhabited corner of the galaxy, where they couldn't hurt anyone. 'He instinctivly acted on his grief at the death of his wife. Besides, sending this ship to uninhabited area wouldn't have prevented attacks by other Husnock vessels, and may have placed planets between the two points in danger, as the Husnocks would probably be very angry as a result.'IMDB entry tt0708823 =Sources= Category:Episodes Category:The Next Generation